Beijing Boyce

Riverside Cafe has closed and will, it appears, become another Schindler’s. Good news for sausage and sauerkraut lovers, bad news for fans of the cafe and its excellent RMB20 wine glasses. (I should have stocked up. Anyone know where I can get more?) / Black Jack Garden (where I once coaxed a bartender into making me a Jagermeister martini. Ah, the memories) has also been uprooted. / The back loft in Le Quai (inside Gongti West) is a great place to spend a few hours while watching people ice fish, skate and play hockey on the river outside. Cozy couches and a good selection of drinks (RMB25-50; try the fruit cocktail), the only drawback is that sound really carries from the room below. / Until Chinese New Year, icehouse will only open for events, such as the Chopschticks comedy shows (next one: January 14). The owners have hired Guy Duarte as GM. The restaurant and lounge to which icehouse is attached are open as usual. / It started with Babyface a year ago and now Gongti West is becoming club central. Angel, Cargo (backed by Mix), Queen Club and the soon-to-open Coco Banana (backed by Banana) and Cutie Club are like peas in the pod there, with Vics and Mix around the corner. That hundred-meter strip could become the world’s biggest market for Chivas and green tea. Good. We must isolate such drinkers from society at large. / That gargantuan, half-finished and long-dormant building behind the Sanlitun beer mug is now host to a flurry of construction, the attendant noise intruding upon The Bookworm. There could be a double whammy on book and wireless lovers when drilling starts on the huge nearby Sanlitun South project. The Bookworm has a growing collection of new books and magazines for sale, a jewelry corner by Things of The Jing and 2006 seminars planned with Kent Kedl (The China Ready Company), Tim Clissold (Mr. China) and “Maggot Detective” Mark Benecke (his slide shows are not for the weak of stomach), among others. / Jenny Lou’s continues to expand its empire with a takeover of Eight over Eight’s space (Sanlitun North). (Note: I went there and four other stores in a vain search for a plunger – the staff at each spot were amused as I used body language to demonstrate unblocking a toilet. I tell you, there’s nothing worse than having a dozen full-bladdered house guests waiting for the maintenance guy to come and fix the loo.) / Thanks to BB readers Ro King, Agent Hidden Dragon and Agent Gold Monkey for donating money to help fund a heart operation for a two-month-old orphan named Tian Yue. (See last issue for the Scrooge-like details as to why an extra drive for cash was needed.) GE also came through with major support. Tian Yue had surgery on Boxing Day and so far, so good. / Thanks also to my boss, who seemed to be the only laoban in Beijing who didn’t require the staff to wear Christmas hats – as was required by workers at Shin Yeh, Le Quai, Starbuck’s, ad infinitum – the past few weeks. (I simply don’t look good in red with white fringe.) / Torres Wine has moved its office to near Green T. House (I couldn’t find the actual address since, like that of Summergate Wines, the Torres website is not working. C’mon guys, it’s almost 2006!). Torres will have a free tasting every Friday, 4-6 PM and until the end of December (short notice!) offers “buy two, get one free” on Baron Philippe de Rothschild Maipo Cabernet Sauvignon (RMB67), Signos Shiraz (RMB55) and Prosecco Angela Viano (RMB 85). / I went to Pinnacle Plaza with friends to buy a Christmas tree and popped into Palette Wines (good deal on Stickleback: RMB85 per bottle) and then into Jenny Lou’s where, lo and behold, they had over 500 different wines and a wine tasting to boot (it consisted of a “blind tasting” where one guessed if the wine was a Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon. Okay, I guessed right. Now what? Do I win something? No? I don’t get the concept). / Finally, I was busy apartment hunting and moving the past two weeks, so this issue is heavy on First Impressions and light on in-depth pieces. I’ll have more next time around.

(From Beijing Boyce VII, first emailed on December 29, 2005)